Chapter 8

Robb was in the Godswood, meditating as always. There was something different about his magic that day.

It felt... cold. The chill was spreading into his body. But, it was a welcoming chill. He opened his eyes and breathed out a sigh. His breath.. was cold.

'... Is that ice?'

He could feel the cold calling to him.

'Does this mean I can use magic to make ice? Like Haku?'

Robb focused and tried to form a needle of ice. In the end, he could only make a few shards that had very sharp edges.

'I need lots of training.'

He decided to end his meditation for the day and returned to help with the preparations. Later that day, Jon, Theon and him went on a hunt along with Ghost and Liam.

Theon had been with them for many years and Robb had begun to see him as family. Even Jon got along well with the Greyjoy, something Robb had tirelessly worked upon. Alone, they were formidable in every way, but, together, they could take on an army.

Robb valued their brotherhood and hoped that Jon and Theon felt the same.

Their trust in one another was proven by the carcass of the huge bear they were bringing with them. Theon had tackled Jon out of the bear's way when it had first ambushed the trio.

While the bear had fallen to Robb's spear, it was their combined effort which had made it possible.

They reached Winterfell late in the evening.

"Robb! Where the fuck did you find a beast that huge?!"

He smiled at Jory and said, "We'll be feeding this to the royals! I can bet they've never had bear stew!"

Ned had shown his clear disapproval of them hunting such a beast as they had put themselves in danger. Regardless, the trio had smiles on their faces as each of them went off to their chambers.

When Robb was about to change his clothes, he heard a knock on his door.

"Robb?"

"Father? Come in."

Ned opened the door and entered. He walked to the nearby chair and sat down. He looked at his eldest son with pride and said, "I can't believe I'm your father, Robb. You are far more wise than your old man... At such a young age. You were right, son. I was being foolish and unknowingly hurtful to Jon. He deserves to know his truth."

Ned pulled out a letter from his pocket and handed it to Robb.

"Open this letter if something ever happens to me. I'd grown complacent over the years. You were right. Anything could happen on the morrow and letting Jon be unaware of his mother is not something I want. Promise me, Robb, you will only open this letter upon my death and not before that. I will tell Jon about his mother when I'm ready to tell him."

Robb took the letter and made the promise to his father. All he wished for was to never have to open the letter. But, Robb knew that it was merely his wishful thinking.

'Everyone and everything perishes someday. It's an absolute truth and one can do nothing to prevent death. You just have to live with it.'

(TTOTUGS)

The royal envoy had finally arrived at Winterfell.

Robb wasn't expecting much, but, the sight of the fat, drunk man who needed a step to climb down his horse, didn't inspire much respect for the king. It was a little pathetic if Robb was being honest.

The queen, while beautiful, felt utterly cold. Robb could sense every emotion she was feeling and it wasn't painting a good image of her. Cersei's disdain for his family and the North as a whole, was well hidden by her impassive face. But, anyone with a trained eye could tell that she wanted nothing to do with the North or the king for the matter. All Robb could sense was arrogance and hate with a hint of crazy.

Her brother, a man famed for his skill with sword and the 'cowardly' killing of Aerys the second, was a gaunt man with a lot of bling on his armor. Arrogance oozed from him, but, there was no hate. Although the man seemed strong, for a man who had faced against gods, Robb wasn't fased at all.

There were two innocent little things in the carriage accompanying the queen. 'Tommen and Myrcella Baratheon.'

Finally, Robb's eyes landed on the crown prince.

'What the fuck?! This... is one sick son of a bitch.'

Disdain, arrogance, cruelty, cowardice and utter madness... The boy made Robb's skin crawl. He had to suppress a shudder as he began to feel nauseated by the mere presence of the boy.

The king began to greet everyone in the family and reached Robb after having finished greeting Catelyn. "You're the heir."

"Robb Stark, your grace."

"Hm, you look strong! Bet you could give the Kingslayer a run for his gold!"

Robb didn't react and the king moved down the line. The former's eyes were fixated on the absolutely fake smile on Joffrey's face as he looked at Sansa. It made Robb's anger bubble as he could feel the cruelty hidden behind that smile.

'Touch her and I'll rip your fucking arms off!'

When the King and Ned left to visit the crypts, Arya's question about 'the imp' made Robb break his murderous gaze away from Joffrey. As Jaime walked away to look for Tyrion, Robb asked the servents to take all the belongings of the royal family to their rooms.

As the royals settled, Robb went away to his training yard to blow off some steam. It was apparent that his agitation wasn't overlooked by his brothers and they went after him.

"What is it, Robb?" Jon asked.

"They are hostile to us."

"Who?"

"The queen and the heir. Especially, the heir. He's not right. There's something sinister in him. Something... Unhinged and cruel."

Jon and Theon looked at each other in worry. They were well aware of how good Robb was at reading people correctly. If the heir was truely like Robb had said, the future of the realm was going to be troubling to say the least.

"Is everyone settled?"

"Aye."

Theon, seemed to be holding back a question. Robb looked at him and said, "You want to ask something. What is it?"

The said boy took a seat and asked, "Why's the king here? It can't be to merely visit his friend. No one on their right mind would travel for two fortnights just for that."

Robb threw the giant hammer that he was swinging and said, "What else, Theon? The Hand just died. So, the king needs another one to clean his shit. He's here to make father the Hand."

"What?!"

"Do you think father will accept it?" Jon asked.

"There's no doubt about it. The king is father's childhood friend. They're brothers in all but name and blood. You saw how the king talked to the queen, right? Anyone with a keen eye can tell they don't get along well. They have no love for one another, ya' know. Tywin Lannister was Aerys the second's Hand and the Queen must've recommended the man to the king. Another reason I can think of for her dislike towards us."

The sat in silence for a while and Theon suddenly said, "Heh, I wonder how they even brought themselves to fuck each other and had three kids. Did you look at them? They look nothing like the king! I bet they're all bastards that Cersei Lannister had with someone else. Maybe another Lannister. My father used to say that her and Jaime Lannister were quite close before she became the queen."

Jon then scoffed and said, "What does he know? Your father's a fucking lunatic, Theon."

"... Yeah, he's definitely a lunatic warmonger."

The brothers had quite a laugh at Balon's expense. They returned to the castle and took over their duties, doing their part in making the stay of the royals as great as possible.

Robb knew that nothing was certain in the future, but, he was sure that life was only going to get tougher and he was never one to shy away from a challenge.